Meet Me Half Way
by spoodle monkey
Summary: Prequel to 'Hands Held High'. Heroes are disappearing, the worlds smartest men can't figure it out. Maybe Johnny can. JohnnyBen SteveTony PeterMJ LukeJessicaDanny lightWolverineCyclops Complete
1. Part 1 of 2

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own.

A/N- This is a prequel to Hands Held High in Surrender and it's sequel No Longer Running. This is part one of two and is JohnnyBen slash. So, this is a marvel xover and there are other pairings too, I've had the idea for this story floating around my head for awhile and I finally finished part one! Yay! Enjoy!

* * *

Johnny first gets wind of it as he's slouched down into the couch cushions as far as he can go. They've just gotten back from Iceland of all places and he'd used up a lot of his flame so he's quite content just to lounge there.

He's flipping through the channels, unable to settle on anything, tired but restless, when Ben collapses onto the couch next to him.

It's enough to pause his finger on the button as he turns to face his rocky friend, taking in the deep lines that surround tired blue eyes.

He's spent most of his life just seeing what was on the outside and in return being seen same way. With Ben he had had to look past the rocky exterior and once he had, he'd been trapped.

The only problem is, is that Ben doesn't see _him_ the same way and Johnny isn't sure how to get Ben to really look at him. So he settles for teasing and taunting and riling Ben up just to get close to the other man.

The rest of the time, he settles for watching.

The eleven o'clock news is playing in the background, detailing a bank robbery downtown and Johnny is taking this opportunity to 'Ben watch'. He takes in the relaxed posture, on the edge of sleep. Ben's eyes are closed; chest rising and falling gently and Johnny can almost believe that the other man needs his company as much as Johnny needs his.

"Wat'cha staring at Matchstick?" Not asleep then.

"You." Johnny answers promptly.

Ben makes a noise and opens one eye lazily to peer at him.

"I'm not in the mood for any of your wise cracks, kid." Ben sounds like every syllable is a challenge to get out. It's one of those nights where all they want to do is climb into bed and never come out again, but something keeps them from doing so. Sue and Reed have no problem, but he and Ben always seem to end up with this insomnia.

"Wasn't going to." Johnny replies, staring levelly back.

He holds the gaze too long and Ben's eyes flit away. Johnny slumps back into the seat and turns his attention back to the news, tossing the remote to the side.

"_-there was no sign of Spiderman at the scene or at the fire earlier this week. His whereabouts are currently under speculation but a concerned fan of the hero had this to say…"_

"Wonder where Pete got to." Johnny mumbles to himself, quietly enough so that Ben doesn't have to reply if he doesn't want to. A quiet snore is his response. Ben has drifted off on the couch. Johnny can feel the restlessness begin to seep away and decides it's time to head to bed.

He drapes a blanket over the other man, turns off the tv and over head light and gets ready for bed. And as he's drifting off, finally, he takes a moment to wonder where Peter could have gone.

Maybe he'll call MJ in the morning.

DI

Two days later Johnny is out in the streets, throwing fire balls at a wave of Doom bots with the newest Avengers team. He goes left and Iron Man goes right and together they manage to take out a few of the robots.

At least there are less of them chanting 'Doom'.

He spots Captain America by the glint off his shield as he covers Spiderwoman's back and Luke Cage a few feet away doing some serious damage with Ben.

But still no Spiderman. Or Wolverine for that matter.

A Doom bot gets in a lucky hit and knocks out his flame and he falls, dazed. He lands on something hard, but not as hard as the ground.

"I got'cha." Ben curls forwards and shields them both from the next blast and Johnny holds on, hands splayed on Ben's chest. He can't feel Ben's heartbeat, but he knows it's there. Call it a sign of faith.

By the time they straighten up there aren't any Doom bots left standing and Johnny is reluctant to let go.

"You okay kid?" Ben peers down at him; worried frown in place and Johnny can't help but think that Ben frowns too much. "Matchstick?" Ben pokes him lightly when he takes too long to reply.

"I'm fine." Johnny smiles reassuringly and steadies himself before reluctantly pulling away.

Ben doesn't appear convinced and keeps a hand on his shoulder just in case he's planning on falling flat on his face anytime soon. Iron Man lands in front of them gracefully.

"Sorry I couldn't catch you, another Doom bot managed to sneak up on me." The voice coming from the Iron Man helmet is devoid of emotion but the hero shifts his stance and Johnny can tell he feels guilty even though no one was hurt.

"No problem." Johnny brushes it off. "Ben swept me off my feet." He smiles flirtatiously at Ben but Ben isn't paying attention.

"Right." He's almost certain he can hear the amusement in Iron Man's voice.

"So," Johnny turns his gaze from Ben. "Where's the rest of your team? Wolverine? Spiderman?"

Iron Man tenses before his eyes, the easy going nature gone for a moment before coming back as though it never left.

"Wolverine is at Xavier's school dealing with an emergency with one of their teachers." He hesitates slightly before saying the next part. "And Spiderman's…missing."

"What?" He'd completely forgotten to call MJ but he'd just thought Pete was on vacation or something. Not missing. "Why aren't you looking for him?"

Johnny only has a handful of people he can truly call friends and Pete is one of them.

"I'm currently running about twenty different scans right now." Iron Man sounds annoyed and Ben appears to be listening into the conversation. "We're doing everything we can- and believe me, that's a _lot_- and we're still looking."

Johnny nods, runs a hand over his face and tries to breathe. Iron Man is on it- the Avengers are on it. They'll find Peter and everything will be fine.

Ben's hand slides down from his shoulder and to the small of his back and Johnny allows himself to be steered towards the Fantasticar. He's not really in any shape to fly at the moment anyways.

DI

Turns out Wolverine was at Xavier's school because people were having trouble tracking down Cyclops and one of the students, Kitty Pryde.

Wolverine drops by personally to tell them this, or at least to tell Reed (while Johnny is tinkering with something he probably shouldn't be tinkering with). Johnny's first thought is that the pair have run off together and have eloped or something to Las Vegas. Or Canada.

The Avenger stares at him like he's an idiot for a moment then turns back to Reed and mentions something about Tony Stark and a theory he's supposed to pass on since the other Avengers are currently in space.

There's some talk about how the worlds most powerful telepaths cannot find the pair and Johnny tries to figure out how to get solitaire on Reeds computer.

It's not that he doesn't care- it's that the words are getting longer and sounding more like a foreign language and they'll holler if they need him.

Wolverine leaves and Ben and Sue walk in and Johnny tries to act like he's been paying attention the entire time.

"Cyclops and one of the students eloped." Johnny fills them in helpfully.

Sue pulls a face like she's trying very hard not to hit him and Ben rolls his eyes.

"What?" Johnny defends before turning flirtatious eyes towards Ben. "I hear it's _all_ the rage."

This time Sue clamps a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter and Ben just awkwardly heads over to where Reed is playing with a microscope. Or something.

"I think you're getting through." Sue says in an attempt to cheer him up. Johnny casts a glance across the room and catches Ben studiously not watching him. "He's just in one of his '_I'm a monster_' moods."

Johnny hopes it's that easy because he can break Ben out of those moods. He's not convinced by Sue's reassuring smile. It's just that- he's liked people before, mostly girls, mostly _supermodels_ and Ben is definitely neither of those. He's _different_. He's more than all the others. Johnny doesn't want to screw up.

"Now come on," Sue grabs his hand and begins to pull him over to the other half of their team. "Let's go see if Reed needs some help. Maybe he'll let you melt something."

Johnny feels better already.

DI

It's two in the morning and Johnny can't sleep.

He pads barefoot down the hall in nothing but his boxers, completely comfortable with how he looks but also confident that no one else will be awake at this hour.

The hall is dark, lit by the few emergency lights Sue made Reed put in after the Christmas fiasco. They cast shadows and make him see things that aren't really there. He's always been jumpy early in the morning but for a second he could swear that one of the shadows really was staring back at him.

He speeds up his pace and enters the kitchen in a rush, nearly missing the person seated at the kitchen table. Which is ridiculous, considering his size.

"Couldn't sleep?" Ben asks quietly, his gravelly voice filling the silence and calming Johnny's nerves. Ben's there- every things good now.

"No." Johnny opens the fridge, bathing the room in a soft light and grabs a bottle of water. He twists the cap off, takes a long drink and lets the door swing softly shut. The shadows are still looming around him, even with Ben's presence so he reaches out and flicks on the light over the stove. It's just enough to drive the darkest shadows away.

Ben studies him for a moment, taking in the bags under his eyes. Johnny feels naked under the gaze, feels exposed.

"Nightmares?" His sister doesn't know about the nightmares- Reed doesn't pay enough attention to the outside world to even notice that Johnny had switched out his usual uniform with an orange one the previous week. Sue had made him change it back.

Johnny nods, taking another swig from the bottle. It's half empty and his mouth still feels dry.

"What was it this time?" Normally he has nightmares of his friends and family leaving, either of their own will or against it, or of their more nasty villains. The past few nights though he's been dreaming about Peter and Cyclops, who he'd only met a handful of times, and a faceless girl that he knows is Kitty Pryde (he does listen sometimes). They're calling out to him, begging for help and he tries, he really does try to help- he flames on and it burns so bright and suddenly his flame is being ripped away until there is only cold and pain.

"The missing people." Johnny admits and it sounds so loud in the silent room. He waits- expecting some smart retort from Ben, something that brushes off how much Johnny is bearing to him right now. A quick word, hand clapped on his back and off to bed and everything will be back to normal tomorrow.

"Kid," Ben sighs and the chair creaks as he stands. Ben may be made of rock now, but he's no bigger than when he was just plain old Ben Grimm and not the Thing. Johnny still has to tilt his head up to look Ben in the eye as he comes close though. Ben's always been taller than him.

"You gotta stop doing this to yourself." If Ben means caring, well- he can't just turn it off. He's tried, and it always comes back worse than before.

"They keep asking me for help." He admits.

In the daytime with the sun and the warmth he can keep these thoughts at bay. He can sit still and wait for the moment that they need him; that he can help. He can sit by and let the genius' do the number crunching so long as they call him the second he can do something. It's harder at night when the sun is gone and the cold creeps in on him and his thoughts turn darker.

Ben wraps large hands around him and pulls him in close and Johnny seeks refuge in the stone body surrounding him. He feels cocooned in Ben's arms and nothing can touch him while he's there.

"Let's get you back to bed." Ben says gruffly, but makes no move to pull away and Johnny is hard pressed to think of any other time he has felt this way. Everything with Ben is different.

"Your bed?" Johnny shoots back hopefully.

Ben grunts and it could be laughter or annoyance but Johnny doesn't get a chance to ask as the doorbell sounds, loud and overbearing in the previous silence.

They separate and turn, hurrying side by side down the hall to the elevator, because no one called at two in the morning without a really good reason.

DI

Luke Cage paces around the living room. Four steps from the television to the doorway and four steps back. Jessica Jones ignores his pacing, sitting at the edge of the couch, worrying her lower lip between her teeth and very much pregnant.

Johnny has a pair of old sweats on and a t-shirt he'd borrowed from Bobby Drake last year and had never got around to giving back. He'd figured that wandering around in a pair of boxers in front of guests wasn't a great idea.

Sue is the only one in the group that doesn't look like she's just rolled out of bed; he's always envied her ability to look presentable no matter what, even covered in goop.

Reed stretches out a hand, laying it carefully on Cage's arm to catch his attention, but not to startle him and gently leads him over to the couch next to Jessica.

"Start from the beginning." Sue coaxes.

"He had just gotten back from Tokyo and was in town for the week." Cage grits out, teeth clenched, looking like he would rather be out there busting heads for information rather than in the living room of the Fantastic Four.

Jessica reaches out, twining their fingers together and Cage relaxes slightly.

"So we offered up our place. It's not the Ritz or anything but Danny liked staying with us." He runs an agitated hand over his face, eyes squeezed tight like he's reliving the scene. "We were in the same room! The same goddamn room!"

Jessica cuts in quickly, voice level and not doing a good job of hiding the same anger and helplessness that Cage is displaying.

"We were watching a movie and we must've dosed off," She looks confused for a moment, like she can't explain why they fell asleep. "And when we woke up, Danny was gone."

"You're sure he didn't just go out?" Johnny asks, resisting the urge to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Positive." Cage levels him with a look and next to him Ben bristles. "We waited two hours. His phone was still there, wallet, watch, everything. Danny doesn't just leave without telling you."

Johnny doesn't really know Danny Rand, has only really met him once in passing, but he nods and takes Cage at his word.

"I'd like to run some tests on you." Reed says, head buried in some sort of portable computer he had whipped up a few days ago.

Johnny waits until they all file out of the room, leaving only him and Ben and then slumps back against the couch.

"This doesn't make any sense." He says finally as the silence is beginning to sink in on them again. "How can this many people go missing and no one can find them?"

"We'll find them." Ben is quick to reassure. Johnny tries to take solace in this.

"How? There isn't any trace of them. They just disappear."

Ben doesn't answer because he doesn't understand any better than Johnny how four people can disappear without a trace. Reed Richards, Tony Stark and Hank Pym are all working on this and getting no where. He may not understand the words but he understands the look of defeat that sometimes creeps into their eyes.

"They just need some time matchstick." Ben says, reading his mind.

Johnny has to believe in them, in Ben, or this will all end badly.

DI

Johnny spends the next morning watching detective movies and comes to a conclusion; all of the missing people must have something in common.

There's a chance that all of this is just random, but Johnny is working under the assumption that there is something that connects them all that no one is seeing right now.

Aside from their powers, of course.

"We're missing something." He tells Ben, completely serious.

Ben glances from the DVD cases to the empty energy drinks and then back to Johnny.

"Right."

"We are!" Johnny insists. This is his big chance to help, to stop waiting in the sidelines. He's read the books, watched the movies and flipped through the comics- he knows this detective stuff now.

Ben sighs, noting the slight manic glint in Johnny's eyes and sits at the table, if only to humor him for now.

"They all have powers."

"Already thought of that." Johnny shakes his head and studies the files he's created for the missing people. He'd had to check the internet for information on the other three, but he'd managed to make Pete's with just what he knows of the other man.

For a moment he panics as a horrible thought occurs to him, what if he has to make one for Ben before this is all over?

His eyes go wide and he looks over at Ben quickly, reassuring himself that the big lug is still there. He looks away before Ben catches him.

"All their powers are different." Ben suggests, glancing at the file on Danny Rand aka Iron Fist. Cage hadn't been very secretive with who this 'Danny' was.

Johnny 'hmms', he'd noticed that too.

"They were all in New York at the time." Johnny points out. The books are right; it does help to talk this stuff out. "Rand flew in from Tokyo."

"Cage and Jessica Jones said they fell asleep and when they woke up, Rand was gone." Ben sits forward, getting into it. Johnny shoots him a brief smile, because it looks like they're onto something here.

"And MJ said that Pete was home and then he was just gone." Their eyes meet across the table. "Like he just disappeared."

"Wanna bet that's what they say about Cyclops and Kitty Pryde?"

Four people disappearing into thin air can really only mean one thing.

"I hate magic." Ben groans and rubs a rocky hand over his face. Johnny silently agrees.

DI

Johnny tells Reed his theory, watches as a shared look passes between him and Hank Pym and then sits back as they phone Doctor Strange. Who turns out to be out of the dimension, but if they'll please leave a message, he will return their call as soon as possible.

Johnny hates magic.

Tony and Steve are out, Hank leaves to go do some research on magic (and looking out of his depth) and Sue forces Reed to leave the lab and actually eat a square meal and take a shower.

Looks like they're on downtime then.

Johnny could spend his downtime watching more detective movies, or visiting MJ or even sleeping.

He finds Ben in the living room watching the football game he recorded the previous week. He hasn't had a chance to watch it since then, but he only seems to be about twenty minutes into the game so Johnny decides that Ben can watch it later.

"Hey!" Ben doesn't look impressed when Johnny flicks off the television and seats himself on the arm of the couch, leaning against Ben. "If you're looking for attention, Matchstick…"

"A date." Johnny says simply and Ben looks confused for a moment. Then understanding dawns and he shakes his head, making to get up off the couch and to probably go hide somewhere Johnny isn't.

So Johnny slides forwards and into his lap and Ben actually stops. Johnny had figured there was about a forty percent chance that Ben wouldn't just dump him on the floor. He's rather pleased that Ben lets him settle there as he tries, awkwardly to find a place to rest his large, rocky hands.

"I want a date." Johnny says again and Ben begins to look panicked.

"Go find one of your supermodel girlfriends."

Johnny shakes his head.

"Don't have any, anymore." Ben opens his mouth but Johnny cuts him off quickly. "Broke up with the last one months ago."

"What about Frankie?"

Johnny raises an eyebrow because he hasn't seen Frankie in a long time and Ben knows this.

"I'm asking you out on a date." Johnny says, and swallows around a dry mouth. He's flirted and teased and touched but this is the first time he's just come out and asked. He gets up and off of Ben's lap, standing before him and looking him square in the eye. "To a…a movie or something. Reed's taking the evening off, Hanks gone home and Tony is out. We have the evening free."

He keeps looking Ben in the eye so that Ben will realize that this is real, this isn't a joke or anything. Johnny needs Ben to understand that he's not scared of Ben, that he doesn't think he's a monster. He's trying for flippant but he's putting himself out there and it's hard.

"Matchstick…" Ben begins but Johnny cuts him off before he can start in on his 'woe is me' tangent.

"You're the kindest person I know." Johnny says and watches as Ben's eyes widen. "And you're not a monster. You're Ben Grimm and I'm asking you to go out with me- somewhere. Anywhere."

Johnny doesn't do speeches; he's usually the one mocking them. He doesn't put much effort into relationships either but this is Ben and Ben is _different. _They don't even have a relationship (yet) but Johnny is working pretty hard.

"Sorry matchstick, but it wouldn't work." Ben stands, rests a brief hand on Johnny's shoulder and then leaves the room.

Johnny listens to Ben's heavy footsteps as they pad down the hall until he can't hear them anymore and then he sits down on the couch and stares blankly ahead for awhile.

DI

He's fairly positive that Ben is avoiding him. He walks into the room and Ben leaves it. So maybe he's sulking a bit. And he might be making his sisters life miserable in the process.

He can't just go play his pranks on Ben, not when the other man can't even look him in the eye, so Sue is the one suffering. He needs the outlet.

First it's whipped cream and then the toothpaste and eventually water balloons. By lunch Sue is ready to kill him.

Johnny's making his way cautiously down the hall, avoiding his sister, when he's all but bowled over.

There's a flash of red, white and blue, a loud crash and then Johnny finds himself lying on the carpet, staring up at the ceiling. That could have gone better, he muses.

Captain America stares down at him, like he can't figure out how Johnny ended up on the floor. Thundering footsteps come closer and if he tilts his head he can spot Ben and Reed at the other end of the hallway.

He suspects that he broke Sue's vase on his way to the floor.

Captain America grimaces, which Johnny takes as an apology and then holds out a hand to help him to his feet. The second Johnny is standing, Steve whirls around to Reed and he spots the panic that he'd overlooked before.

"What is it?" Reed asks, stretching the rest of the way down the hall to where they stand.

"Tony," Steve huffs, sounding like he ran the entire way to the Baxter building. Of course this is Captain America, so it's entirely possible that he ran the length of the city, fought Doom and rescued a kitten from a tree and only sounds a little winded. "They got him."

"You mean Mole Man or something right?" Johnny only half jokes.

They know where Mole Man is, he's easy to track.

"We were walking down the street and I looked away for a second," Captain America ignores his comment. His fists clench and his teeth grind together. Johnny doesn't want to be the one the anger is directed at. "One second! And he was…gone."

"You didn't see anything?" Reed asks, pulling out his data pad, tapping away at the screen.

"Nothing." Johnny has never heard Captain America sound so frustrated, has never heard that tone of defeat in his voice. It chills him. If Captain America thinks the situation is hopeless, how the hell are they supposed to win?

"One minute he was telling me about his ideas for fixing up an old hot rod and the next he just wasn't there." Steve straightens, jaw squaring and eyes narrowing. "We're going to find him. We're going to find _all_ of them."

It feels like the truth and Johnny begins to nod his head in agreement before he realizes what he's doing.

Ben's eyes meet his and he knows that Ben isn't feeling very hopeful but Johnny has enough hope for the pair of them. Ben will see it, he's sure.

DI

Johnny goes out and walks through the route that Steve and Tony had taken, cataloguing everything, not really sure what he's looking for. He stops in at a bakery, picking up something to munch on along the way and then sets off again.

He walks through the park, past the café where they ate and around the corner where Tony disappeared. For a moment, he wonders if he'll disappear too, then at least he'll find the others.

Nothing happens and Johnny walks back to the Baxter building no closer to figuring it out than he was before.

It's late in the evening when Reed calls them all up to his lab.

The Fantastic Four plus half of the Avengers gather around Reed's computers and diagrams only to hear that they haven't made any progress. The magic is untraceable, they still can't reach Dr Strange and Reed has tried everything he can think of to track Extremis.

Up on one screen a traffic camera shows as Tony Stark and Steve Rogers make their way down the street. Johnny's been over the footage a few times, not as many as Reed- but there was always a chance that he'd spot something that was missed.

The others are trading and dismissing theories next to him but Johnny keeps watching the video.

"Hey- did you check the days that the others disappeared?"  
Everyone turns and looks at him.

"What?" Steve asks, frowning.

"Well, I mean," Johnny gestures at the screen as Tony disappears from the footage. "We don't really have anything to connect them all, aside from the whole 'power' thing, so what did Tony and Steve do that everyone else did?"

Most of the room is staring at him in silent disbelief, and Ben's standing there looking really proud of him. Huh. He doesn't blush at the attention but he does soak up the smile Ben sends his way greedily.

"Good thinking Johnny." Reed says finally, breaking the silence. His hands stretch out and then he's off, typing on a series of computers at once. One by one, the footage from the days the other heroes disappeared appear on the screens.

They find Kitty Pryde first. She's sitting at an outdoor café with two other people that he doesn't know and probably don't have powers. Cyclops walks out of a bookstore down the street next.

Johnny scans another one of the videos and spots Pete going into the bakery that Johnny had visited earlier. Danny Rand glances in the window of the bakery but keeps walking down the street in his video.

"I walked that same route with Tony." Steve says quietly. "Why didn't I disappear as well?"

That's an answer Johnny can't supply.

"The question is who will be next." Sue says, worried frown in place. "If this is why the heroes are disappearing, then we have to warn everyone."

"And whoever goes and checks it out," Luke Cage speaks up. "Might end up disappearing like the others."

The look on his face tells Johnny that he's willing to go and be bait.

Johnny opens his mouth to tell them that he'd been there earlier, that he could go back. He blinks and the Baxter Building is gone.

DI

He's in some sort of container. Four feet by seven feet and seven feet tall. He can stand up and stretch out which is a relief. Dr Doom had stuck him in a tiny box one time for six hours and he'd lost the feeling in his limbs by the time the others had gotten him out.

The walls are clear and look like glass but he can't break through them.

He can't flame on.

Something is stopping his flame. He can feel the fire inside, can almost reach out and touch it but can't cross that final distance.

There's no door to the cell, no air holes (but he can breathe), no visible way out.

He _really _hates magic.

He slams a fist against the wall and gets a small shock in response. Johnny yelps and jumps away from the wall, holding his hand. He cautiously reaches out and pokes the glass but doesn't receive the same shock.

Okay, no hitting the glass. He can work with that.

"I hate magic."

There's an empty cell on one side of him and on the other side of his cell is a tired and worn looking Tony Stark.

Well, he's found one of them at least.

Now he just needs someone to come and find _him_.

"Where are we?" Johnny asks.

He spins in a circle and makes out a lot more of these glass boxes in whatever room they may be in. It looks like a big room. He has a really bad feeling.

"I don't know." Tony is sitting cross-legged in the middle of his own cell, eyes closed and he appears to be concentrating, brows furrowed.

"Are you alright?" The man is looking a little…pale, with dark circles under his eyes. He doesn't look _healthy_.

"Magic and Extremis don't really get along." Tony grunts out. His fingers are white where they clench his suit pants.

Hey- they still have their clothes! Johnny digs into the pockets of his jeans looking for his cell phone, but it's not there. Neither is his watch for that matter.

Okay, electronics aren't allowed. He has this bad feeling that includes part of Starks _brain._

He takes a moment to be annoyed, because _Ben_ gave him that watch for his birthday. He'd better get it back when he leaves or he's going to be really annoyed.

Speaking of which…

"We found the connection," He tells Tony. The man cracks open an eye to look at Johnny for the first time since Johnny has found himself here. "It's only a matter of time before they find us."

"Or end up here themselves." Tony mutters.

"Come on," He stops himself from calling Iron Man _dude_. "Cheer up, Ben and the others will find us. Have some faith."

Tony closes the eye again and for a moment Johnny thinks that the conversation is over now. He settles down on the floor, carefully leaning against the wall so he doesn't receive a shock again and stretches his legs out. Then,

"Is Steve with them?"

He suspects that part of the question is asking whether Steve has disappeared too.

"Yeah, with the rest of the Avengers, and my team." He adds.

A faint smile crosses the too pale face.

"Then I have faith."

Johnny knows what that kind of faith is like.

He gets as comfortable as he can and sits back to wait for Ben to come to the rescue.


	2. Part 2 of 2

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own...any of it...

A/N- First of all- Star Wars kicks ass. This statement will makes sense later on in the story. Second of all, woot! I finished it! It's kinda open ended, in a way, but I'm going to write another story (eventually) that will come after this, but before 'With Hands Held High in Surrender' and that should explain a few things in 'Hands held high'. Same warnings, pairings etc apply...enjoy!

* * *

Time passes really slowly, he decides, when one is stuck in a box.

Not that he can tell how much time has passed considering they took his watch, which he'd better be getting back after all this is over.

"What are you doing?" Johnny finally gets fed up with the silence after it becomes clear that no one is actually coming to gloat over their capture.

A little into what Johnny is calling 'hour two', because it feels like it's been much longer but probably hasn't been, Tony had stopped talking to him. It's not that he's feeling ignored (except he kind of is, but only a little), it's just that the other man is white as a sheet, with a pinched expression on his face and has not moved since before they stopped talking. He figures that gives him a reason to worry.

This is Tony Stark, where the hell is the incredible invention to get them out?

So Johnny figures he's got to be doing something. Tony is either about to pass out (or worse) or has come up with some ingenious plan that he is just waiting for the perfect moment to unleash. It could be both.

"I'm trying to access Extremis."

Tony's voice comes out sounding hoarse and pained and he doesn't even bother to open his eyes to look at Johnny. Looks like its both then.

"Is that safe?" Johnny asks cautiously and moves to the edge of the cell to peer down at the other man.

"Probably not. No." Stark smirks but it comes out as more of a grimace.

Johnny frowns and crosses his arms.

"You know, I'm thinking we should go with plan B." Which is not usually his first choice but in this case he apparently has to look after another genius with a slight death wish. What was it with geniuses anyways? "As in, the one where we sit down and wait for the others to find us."

The way he sees it, there's no way they won't be rescued soon. Whoever this bad guy is, they aren't very smart. Nabbing Johnny from Reed's lab while his equipment was on? There's no way all of it wasn't recorded and analyzed and whatever else it is that happens up there.

Yup, they'll be out of there in no time.

"I would rather be doing something than nothing at all."

"Well, waiting to be rescued is doing something." Johnny argues.

Now he just has to convince himself as well, seeing as all he wants to do is melt the box and get the hell out of there. He can't access his flame though (which is freaking him out) so he can't really do much.

Tony finally cracks open a tired blue eye to glare at him half heartedly.

Johnny runs a hand through his hair and turns to resume his pacing of the cell.

"I have to at least try to help them find us." It's said so quietly that Johnny almost misses it.

"I get that," He turns and faces Tony again, this time with the other man actually looking at him. "But you're hurting yourself in the process. There has to be someone for them to rescue right?"

That's something Sue taught him after one too many times being captured by Doom. Of course, if it were just him here, he'd been doing the same thing Tony is doing, except without the computers.

"Steve says that a-"

DI

Johnny blinks, disoriented.

Where there had been a clear box seconds before, there is now a large field of some sort. There's dirt under his feet and stone walls surrounding him in every direction, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. It feels like one of those coliseums that Ben had tried to build out of marshmallow's one time. There aren't any seats but there is a large screen hanging over head.

What has he gotten himself into?

"Johnny?"

He spins around, surprise and relief flooding through him.

"Pete!"

Spiderman stands a few feet away, looking just as confused as he feels, even through the mask. It takes Johnny an extra minute to realize that he's now in his Fantastic Four uniform.

"Welcome to the third match!" A booming voice announces from the screen. Johnny glares up at the screen as an image of a cloaked figure appears. It figures that even when they meet their bad guy, they don't even get to know what he looks like.

"Johnny!" Peter hisses urgently, tugging on his arm to get his attention. "Cyclops is here too and She-Hulk."

She-Hulk? He hadn't even known she was missing.

"This round we have Spiderman versus The Human Torch!" The ground shakes with the noise of applause but Johnny cannot see the crowd.

"What is he talking about?" Johnny glares up at the screen. "Hey! Come down here and talk to me yourself!"

"Johnny- pay attention!" The desperate note in Peter's voice draws Johnny's attention back to his friend. "They made me fight She Hulk."

What?

"How could they make you-"

"I don't know," Peter cuts him off. "I'm just…really sorry and I totally don't mean it."

Johnny officially has no idea what's going on and really wishes someone would fill him in already. But it doesn't matter. Right now he has to get himself and Peter out of there and work on finding the others. If She Hulk is here too, who knows how many heroes have been kidnapped.

"FIGHT!"

It's on the tip of his tongue to tell this guy where he can shove it when the world spins and everything kind of goes sideways.

He blinks and he's flamed on without even realizing it.

_Blink._

He's in the air, circling around high above.

_Blink._

He's throwing fireballs at a figure darting around below him. He tries to make out who it is but then,

_Blink._

Something hard hits him and he falls and falls and his flame is out and,

_Blink._

There's a pain but he can't place it. He's in the air again, flying low and he spots his target.

_Blink._

He melts the webbing that surrounds him but cannot take to the air again before he's attacked.

_Blink._

And the flame grows larger and larger and he unleashes the fire inside with a harsh cry,

_Blink._

The world turns sideways again and everything goes black.

DI

"Johnny!" Someone's calling him. "Torch, come on, wake up! Damn, can't do anything from this cell…Johnny!"

He rolls his head to the side and opens his eyes. Tony stares at him from the other cell, crouched up against the wall closest to Johnny. Sheer relief floods his face when Johnny looks at him and he settles back onto his heels.

"Peter?" Johnny rolls his head the other way, searching for his friend but he's back in the cell. All he has is the disjointed memories floating around in his head. The fight, his flames- oh god, he'd fought _Peter_- what had he been thinking?

"You found Spiderman?"

Johnny sits up quickly, too quickly apparently as he nearly falls back down. His head is spinning and his arm is throbbing. The fight had been _real_. He'd _hurt_ his friend.

"Johnny?"

Johnny raises a hand to his face and squeezes his eyes shut to try to stop the spinning. It works after a few minutes and he lowers the hand again before facing Tony.

"They made me fight Peter."

He wishes he were talking to Ben, that Ben were there with him. It's a selfish thought but he holds onto it. Ben would tell him that everything was going to be okay, that Peter's tough and that when they bust out they'd find the bad guy and _clobber_ him.

"Did you use your powers?" Tony asks. Johnny nods and shifts until he's leaning against the far wall. He certainly _feels_ like he's been in a fight. This is what it feels like to not hold back.

He hopes Peter is okay. God, he'd better be alright.

"It must be some kind of mind control."

Great, so they have magic and mind control to deal with. His week just keeps on getting better.

"Any luck with Extremis?" Johnny asks, not really all that surprised when Tony just shakes his head.

"I tried everything I could think of." He admits with a rueful smile. "So, I'm going to take your advice, at least for now."

Johnny nods, head against the cool wall, then claps his hands together.

"Well, the others should be here soon."

He blinks and Tony is gone.

DI

Johnny isn't sure how long he sits there watching the spot where Tony Stark has just disappeared from but he knows it's longer than he probably should.

It's not like he knows how long _he_ was gone from his cell, so he has no idea how long Tony will be gone. And he's fairly sure he knows where the other man is.

The coliseum, he has to be there.

Probably fighting someone they know.

Johnny spends the next little while searching the edges of the box for some weakness that they could have missed. When that doesn't work he tries to flame on. He can feel the fire burning inside and knows what he wants it to do but it's like something is blocking it.

Reed would probably come up with some really long formula and have it figured out in no time.

He figures this is what he gets for tempting fate or something.

"Hey! Why don't you come down here and fight me yourself! Or are you too scared?!"

Yelling at an unseen foe helps a bit. He nearly punches the wall again before he remembers the jolt and catches himself in time. There's no point in hurting himself.

Right, it's been at least twenty minutes (and this is just a guess) and he hasn't gotten anywhere.

So with a final glare at the ceiling he sits back down and continues to stare at the spot where Tony had disappeared from.

Ben will be there soon. It's not just wishful thinking, he can _feel it_.

DI

He blinks and Tony is back.

The man appears, lying on his back and unconscious.

His shirt is soaked with sweat and something that looks suspiciously like blood but Johnny can see the steady rise and fall of his chest, so that's something at least. He tries calling his name but the other man doesn't so much as twitch, so Johnny lets it be for the moment.

He's not sure how much longer he sits there before Tony does begin to wake up, letting out a low groan before blue eyes flutter open.

"Hey." Johnny crawls over to the wall closest to the man and crosses his legs, leaning forwards. "I'd ask how you feel but I think I already know."

He watches as dark brows draw together in confusion momentarily before clearing. Instead there's suddenly a tired, but blinding smile on the other man's face and Johnny starts to worry about concussions. He can't see any bumps but that doesn't mean they're not there.

"I did it."

Johnny frowns, unsure as to what he's talking about.

"I had to fight Iron Fist, but I did it."

At least they found another one of the missing heroes. He's worried about Tony though, he seems delirious and Johnny's no doctor but he gets the feeling that that's not good.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of here soon." Johnny tells him, trying to find the injuries that Tony must have. Oh god, is that blood on his ear? That's really bad.

Tony frowns again, and then sits up before Johnny can tell him to lay still.

"I know that." The other man tells him, and then looks down at his soaked shirt with a grimace. "I got a message out."

"What?"

Johnny is pretty sure that his mouth just dropped open in shock but he doesn't care much at the moment. This had better not be some sort of joke; he'd better understand Tony properly.

Tony grins again, a shark like grin.

"When I was fighting Iron Fist, they gave me back my armor. And I got a bit of Extremis back."

Johnny's feeling pretty light headed at the moment and he can't quite believe it, but it has to be true.

"It only worked for a couple of seconds before I lost control." Tony continues and runs a hand through his hair, pushing back the damp strands. "But it's enough for Reed to get a lock."

Helps coming. Help is _coming. _Johnny can't wait to get out of the cell and kick some bad guy ass.

Ben will be there in no time and normally Johnny has slight issues with being the damsel in distress, but hey- if Ben's his prince charming then he's all for it. And he may not be able to get Ben to go on a date with him, or admit that he really does _like _him, but he knows without a doubt that Ben will be the one crashing through the door to get to him.

"See, told you that help would be coming." Johnny informs the other man, grinning. "We've just gotta wait now."

Not much longer.

DI

He blinks, for the second time today, disoriented. He'd hate to make it into a habit.

The coliseum swims back into focus. Johnny grits his teeth, clenches his fists and faces whoever they think he's going to be fighting this time.

He recognizes the girl standing in front of him, it's not Kitty Pryde, he remembers her photo, but he's pretty sure that she is part of the X-Men.

"What's going on?" She demands in a southern drawl and Johnny remembers who she is. Rogue, Bobby had introduced them once.

Johnny turns from her, the screen lights up and their hooded bad guy appears again.

"Welcome to the sixth match!"

Not this time.

Johnny closes his eyes, breathes deep and reaches deep down into himself.

"Flame on!" He shouts.

The fire grows and grows inside his chest until it's begging to be let out but it's trapped.

"Flame _on_!" He shouts again, louder, with desperation. "Flame _on_!" He can do this- he can do this- _come on!_

"Rogue versus the Human Torch!"

No, no, no- he will _not_ fight again.

"FIGHT!"

The world turns sideways. There's a light touch on his arm and it feels like his soul is being sucked right out of his body. He screams but cannot move, cannot do anything but stand there and let it happen until suddenly it's gone.

_Blink._

His flames cocoon him as he shakes and tries to recover.

_Blink._

A fireball hits him and it hurts, it actually _hurts_. He can feel the heat.

_Blink._

He's in the air, circling, throwing balls of fire but his opponent is in the air as well blocking his every move and returning with her own.

_Blink._

He's falling and falling and hits the ground. His flames go out and for a moment he has perfect clarity- what is he doing? He shouldn't be fighting Rogue; they need to get out of there, save the others. Ben's coming. _Ben_. He opens his mouth but all that comes out is,

"Flame on!"

And he's in the air, fighting again.

_Blink_.

He's getting hotter and his opponent is getting hotter and together they clash. The walls rumble and the floor shakes.

_Blink._

Blue lightning fills the room, knocking them apart and down below there are more people but he ignores them and dives back in, driving up his flame and getting closer and closer to nova.

There's shouting and more blue lightning and then suddenly something surrounds him, caging him in a bubble that he cannot see.

He burns brighter, hotter and tries to force his way out.

Someone is yelling at him, calling out to him. He's going nova, he's-

There's no more air.

His flames are dying and he's gasping and with one more push he burns as bright as he can and he's free. But his flames are out and darkness is pulling at him as he falls.

_Blink._

"It's okay kid, I got'ya. You're okay."

He's being carried, cradled against a body that he would recognize anywhere. _Finally._

He smiles and tries to open his eyes but it's too much and he's safe so he just lets go and lets the darkness drag him under.

DI

He doesn't know how much later it is when he resurfaces. He does know that he's still cradled, protectively in large, rocky arms. The pounding in his head is catching up to him and wrecking the moment, however. He raises a shaky hand and rubs at his eyes and suddenly everyone is talking at once.

He pries his eyes open in time for his sister to launch herself at him and suddenly he's squished between Ben's chest and his sister. He's pretty sure that that is Reed completing the hug and pushed up against his feet.

"Sis, kinda can't breath here." Johnny protests lightly without really any heat.

"Sorry." She apologizes, then pulls back and frowns at him. "Jonathan Spencer Storm, if you ever get yourself kidnapped like this again, I'll- I'll-"

She trails off a little and kind of sags and Johnny squeezes her hand.

"Yeah, me too." He offers.

Ben waits for Reed and Sue to step back before setting Johnny down onto his own feet but keeps one large hand on his back, as though he's keeping Johnny from falling over but Johnny's balance is slightly better and he knows that Ben just isn't ready to let him get too far away again.

"What happened to the others?" Johnny asks. It's only the four of them at the moment and he's fairly certain that there were more people before. He knows for a fact that none of the Fantastic Four can control lightning. Blue lightning at that.

"We had to split up to search all the rooms." Sue explains, eyeing him critically. If he looks any where near as bad as he feels then he can understand it.

He finally takes the time to look around and realizes that they're back in the room where Johnny's cell is. It doesn't take him long to spot Captain America crouching next to another one of the cells, Tony Stark wrapped up in his arms and their foreheads touching. It's an entrancing sight, watching the emotions play across their faces. Apparently Tony's absolute faith in Steve hadn't been faked at all.

"How did you get here?" Johnny tares his eyes away from the scene and looks back at his team. His sister has kind of a soft look on her face as she spots what he was watching, while Reed is watching Sue with the same look. For the first time Johnny cannot read the look on Ben's face. "Better yet, where is here?"

His family exchanges a look and he knows he isn't going to like the answer.

"You are in a sub dimension of the basement apartment of a forty-two year old warlock who lives in his mother's basement." Reed explains with a completely straight face.

Johnny first isn't sure whether Reed's joking or not, but Ben is smirking at him; so instead he tries to decide between being embarrassed and pissed off or just melting all of the action figures their previous captor probably has. The second sounds like much more fun.

"You've got to be joking."

" 'Fraid not matchstick." Ben claps a hand on his shoulder and pulls him against his side. Johnny takes a moment to be confused, but pleased with how he is now plastered against Ben, and then glares up at the still present smirk. "You were kidnapped by a geek."

He's ready to start spouting off insults at the comment but he looks closer and- huh. The smirk is looking rather strained. No matter what Ben says Johnny knows he was worried.

"So, how'd you get here then?" He asks instead. "Did Doctor Strange finally return your call?"

Reed gets an odd, sheepish look on his face and returns to playing with a hand held computer that he swears wasn't there before.

"We called the Young Avengers." Sue explains. "And Wiccan teleported us here."

Johnny may just die of embarrassment before he makes it home.

DI

They meet up with Wolverine, Cyclops, Rogue and Kitty Pryde in the next room over, which is just as large as the previous room and identical except for the claw marks tearing through two of the cells.

Johnny's going to be dreaming of those cells for weeks.

Kitty doesn't look too worse for wear but Sue still hovers by her side like the mother hen she refuses to admit she is.

Johnny casts a quick glance at Rogue, but she refuses to meet his eyes so he looks away just as quickly.

Wolverine has Cyclops' arm over his shoulders and an arm around his waist and it looks like they're arguing quietly at the back of the group as they make their way hopefully towards the exit. Or the rest of their group- whichever comes first.

They have to stop for a few minutes when Luke Cage comes barreling through one of the walls, some suspicious looking slime dripping from his shirt.

Johnny pulls himself away from Ben (with some difficulty as the man in question doesn't seem to want to let go) and rushes over as another group of heroes steps through behind Cage.

"Pete!" And Johnny feels a large rush of relief that makes him weak at the knees when his friend appears, unscathed and not horribly burned. Oh god- he'd been convinced he'd burned one of his best friends.

"Hey!" Pete grins and wraps his knuckles against the proffered fist. "Looks like we're busting out!"

"You ever notice you're always being kidnapped?" Luke is grinning along with them as he pulls Danny Rand through the hole in the wall. "Jess is gonna kick your ass when we get home."

She-Hulk and Wiccan are last to step through the hole, the same strange slime sticking to their clothes as well.

She-Hulk catches his odd look but just shrugs. He gets the feeling that there is a long story to go with the slime.

"If we're all here," Johnny looks around. "Then where's the bad guy?"

"Wiccan left him with the other Young Avengers." Cap explains. He has his shield in one hand and is holding Tony up with the other arm and looks like he could probably still kick ass without a problem.

"It was rather ingenious," Reed pops up, slipping into scientist mode. "He worked in the bakery on the street you all disappeared from and he somehow managed to construct a system that detected heroes."

"But he could only grab one at a time." Tony ads on, straightening up and Johnny just knows they're about to go into full lecture mode. "Which was why he didn't grab Cap when he grabbed me."

"Exactly."

"Uh, the spell I cast on him probably won't last too much longer and I don't think the other Young Avengers will be happy if he gets free and we're not there." Wiccan pipes up, stopping the two geniuses' from continuing. "We should probably be getting back to them."

Ben's hand lands on his shoulder again and Johnny doesn't have the chance to be really confused because Wiccan starts chanting.

"_I want us to be back in the basement, I want us to be back in the basement, I want…"_

DI

Johnny's honestly not sure what to make of the situation. A large part of him feels offended and kind of embarrassed when they reappear in the basement. He's going to be tormented for months over the fact that his captor sleeps on Star Wars sheets and has a life sized poster of _him_ in one corner of the basement apartment. A smaller part of him that he's not letting anyone know about _ever_ is nervously glancing around, making sure that their bad guy, a guy apparently named Frank Wallace, is still secure and isn't about to make him lose control again.

He's terrified of losing control again.

Just in case he keeps a bit of distance between himself and, well, _everyone_ else while they're there.

Except Ben who seems to know exactly what he's thinking and plants himself firmly between Johnny and Wallace. Ben doesn't need to know how grateful he is for the small act.

And he's back to being embarrassed about being kidnapped by some guy named _Frank Wallace_. He doesn't even have a super villain name!

Or a costume for that matter.

The man who managed to give Reed Richards a run for his money is dressed in jeans and an X-man shirt and sulking. Johnny still can't wrap his head around the fact that this is the guy who made him lose control of his flame.

Franks not talking but he gets the feeling that he was collecting heroes, like he collected the figurines on his shelf.

It sends a cold shiver down Johnny's spine and he automatically steps closer to Ben, breathing a light sigh of relief when a rocky hand pulls him closer.

DI

The Baxter building is finally quiet hours later. Reed has all of the heroes that had been captured sleeping in various places all over the building, monitoring them for any sign that something isn't right.

Johnny hadn't been the only one to flat out refuse to sleep in the lab. He'd watched as Tony and Steve had ducked into one of the empty rooms down the hall and, slightly surprised when Wolverine had dragged Cyclops down another corridor. He'd never taken Wolverine as the mother hen type.

So, everyone is tucked away in their beds (most borrowed), sound asleep- except Johnny.

The firm mattress and soft sheets feel great in comparison to the hard floor he'd been stuck with for close to two days apparently. His room is warm and quiet and best of all not see through. He still cannot sleep.

There's nothing wrong with his room, or the building- it's him.

Every time he closes his eyes he can't help but see the cell, or Peter or Rogue or someone else being swallowed up by his flame.

He can't fall asleep, he can't let himself. Part of him is terrified he'll lost control of his flame.

With a sigh that sounds loud in the quiet room he shoves back his blankets and swings his legs over the side of the bed. The hallway is just as silent and dark as it was a few nights ago, the only change being that this time he's dressed in a loose pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. He's jumping at every thing too- every little shadow or noise and this time there's no one sitting in the kitchen to calm him.

A glass of water doesn't help either.

He pads silently back down the hall towards his room and somehow finds himself in front of Ben's door.

It'd be easy to just slide the door open and slip inside. He raises a hand to the door and pauses, inches away.

Ben had all but disappeared during Reed's various tests- in fact, for someone who had been so worried and _clingy_ in the sub dimension, he'd been absent for quite a lot of the night.

Maybe Ben had realized he was getting Johnny's hopes up and didn't want to deal with him?

He pulls his hand away from the door and makes to head back down the hall to his own room.

The door slides open.

"Johnny?" Ben stands on the other side, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Johnny knows he wasn't being loud, that he can't be the reason Ben's up.

"Hey Benjy" He rubs the back of his head awkwardly, searching for some good reason to be lurking outside of Ben's room at four in the morning.

Ben watches him for a moment then turns and heads back into his room, sitting on the edge of his bed, leaving the door open for Johnny to come in.

"Couldn't sleep?" His voice rumbles throughout the room and the door slides shut behind Johnny.

He's been in Ben's room tons of times, mostly to pull his newest prank. This is different.

Johnny shakes his head and stands awkwardly in the middle of the room.

"I was just about to come and see if you were up." Ben admits.

He raises an eyebrow at this; it figures Ben would be the one to know he wasn't asleep.

An awkward silence descends upon them, Johnny rocks back and forth on his feet while Ben picks absently at the blankets.

"I should be getting ba-" Johnny starts as Ben says,

"Oh screw it."

They both pause and then start snickering and Johnny feels better than he has in hours.

"C'mere." Ben suddenly slides back on the bed and holds up the blankets in what can only be a clear invitation and Johnny freezes. There's no way- he can't mean it. "Before I change my mind Matchstick."

Johnny crosses the room in three steps and slides under the blankets. Ben settles in next to him, in the impossibly large bed and Johnny is left even more confused. Something has changed, he knows, something major.

Then an arm slips around his waist and pulls him flush against a smooth, rocky chest with an explosive sigh and he decides to just go with it.

He can feel the tension seeping out of his body and while the images of the cell are still there, he knows that it won't be able to get him, he's safe with Ben.

"Don't do it again." Ben orders and Johnny takes a moment to figure out what he's missed.

"Aww, were you worried about me?" He teases lightly and the arm around his waist tightens fractionally.

"Yeah." Ben rumbles and Johnny can feel the vibrations. "So don't do it again."

He can't promise not to get kidnapped again because it really does happen a lot, just like Ben can't promise him the same thing. But,

"I promise to try not to get kidnapped by nerds putting on gladiator shows for their friends." Because it would be really embarrassing if it were to happen again.

* * *

Ending on a slightly happy note! Love it? Hate it? Want to become Frank and collect super heroes too? :)


End file.
